Welcome

We believe everyone deserves the best end-of-life care available.

Our job is to give you back your life for as much time as you have. This can be as straightforward as providing companionship and practical assistance or as complicated as controlling your pain, helping you talk to your family members, or working with you to resolve spiritual conflicts. We are here to help you find physical, emotional, and spiritual comfort. Our team of staff and volunteers can help you in your home, in an area nursing home, or in the beautiful Hospicare residence. We also provide support to those who are grieving as they face the intense and unpredictable feelings that follow the loss of a loved one.

Hospice is not a place. It is a way of caring.

Hospicare Granted State Approval to Provide Hospice Services in Cortland County

On August 7, 2014, the Public Health and Planning Council of the State of New York granted approval for Hospicare & Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County to expand its service area to include Cortland County. This formal approval follows many months of discussion and negotiation between Hospicareand Caring Community Hospice of Cortland.

“Hospicare is very excited to be providing hospice and palliative care services to Cortland County residents,” said Dale Johnson, Hospicare executive director. “We will provide the medical expertise and compassionate care Cortland residents are used to. At the same time, we will offer additional end-of-life services such as bereavement counseling; complementary therapies such as therapeutic music, acupuncture and massage therapy; and around-the-clock care in our hospice residence in Ithaca.”

The Cortland County Health Department has administered Caring Community Hospice since its beginning, but because the state of New York no longer wants counties to manage direct care health agencies, the Cortland County legislature has chosen to cease its involvement with the hospice. To ensure that Cortland County residents continue to receive hospice services, County Health Department officials approached Hospicare about the possibility of taking over as the care provider. “Hospicare has an excellent reputation and we felt their close proximity made them an ideal fit,” said Public Health Director Catherine Feuerherm.

Hospicare is pleased to join forces with the Cortland Hospice Foundation, which exists solely to support hospice services in Cortland County. The two will strengthen their shared mission to bring high-quality, compassionate care to people with life-limiting illness and to support their loved ones. Hospicare will be the exclusive hospice and palliative care provider for both Tompkins and Cortland Counties. Hospice service will continue to be available in both counties around the clock, as needed.

“Together we will meet the growing need for hospice and palliative care in both counties,” said Johnson. “Medicare and insurance do not cover the full cost of care, and we will continue to rely on the generosity of the Tompkins and Cortland communities to cover the full cost. We remain committed to our promise to provide care regardless of the patient’s ability to pay.”

Federal approval by Medicare, which is expected in September, is still required before Hospicare can officially care for patients in Cortland. Throughout the transition, hospice services will be available to Cortland County residents. Cortland staff and volunteers will combine with their counterparts from Hospicare to serve the Cortland community. In addition, Hospice Foundation of Cortland County will continue to operate.“The Foundation will accept donations and will support hospice services in the Cortland area as we always have,” said Evelyn Sammons, Foundation president. “Those services will continue to be offered from the current 11 Kennedy Parkway location, which the Foundation owns and maintains as part of its supportive role.”